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Joan of Kent

(Encyclopedia)Joan of Kent, 1328–85, English noblewoman; daughter of Edmund of Woodstock, earl of Kent, youngest son of Edward I. She early gained wide note for her beauty and charm, though the appellation Fair M...

Comyn, John (Black Comyn), d. c.1300, Scottish nobleman

(Encyclopedia)Comyn, John kŭmˈĭn [key], d. c.1300, Scottish nobleman, known as the Black Comyn. In 1286 he became one of the six regents for Margaret Maid of Norway and, as such, agreed to the treaty of 1290, by...

Robert of Jumièges

(Encyclopedia)Robert of Jumièges zhümyĕzhˈ [key], fl. 1037–52, Norman churchman in England, b. Normandy. As abbot of Jumièges he won the favor of Edward (later Edward the Confessor) during Edward's exile in ...

Kent, George Edward Alexander Edmund, duke of

(Encyclopedia)Kent, George Edward Alexander Edmund, duke of, 1902–42, fourth son of George V of Great Britain. He traveled extensively as “salesman of the empire.” A member of the Royal Air Force after 1940, ...

Grafton, Richard

(Encyclopedia)Grafton, Richard, d. c.1572, London publisher and printer. In 1539 with Edward Whitchurch he printed the Great Bible in black letter (see type). He printed the first edition of the Book of Common Pray...

Robert I, king of Scotland

(Encyclopedia)Robert I or Robert the Bruce, 1274–1329, king of Scotland (1306–29). He belonged to the illustrious Bruce family and was the grandson of that Robert the Bruce who in 1290 was an unsuccessful claim...

Roses, Wars of the

(Encyclopedia)Roses, Wars of the, traditional name given to the intermittent struggle (1455–85) for the throne of England between the noble houses of York (whose badge was a white rose) and Lancaster (later assoc...

Artevelde, Jacob van

(Encyclopedia)Artevelde, Jacob van yäˈkôp vän ärˈtəvĕldə [key], c.1290–1345, Flemish statesman, of a wealthy family of Ghent. In 1337 the Flemish cloth industry underwent a severe crisis. The pro-French ...

Stigand

(Encyclopedia)Stigand stĭgˈənd [key], d. 1072, English prelate. He held simultaneously the sees of Winchester and Canterbury from 1052 though official recognition of this did not come until 1058 from Benedict X,...

Seymour of Sudeley, Thomas Seymour, Baron

(Encyclopedia)Seymour of Sudeley, Thomas Seymour, Baron, 1508?–1549, English nobleman. After the marriage (1536) of his sister Jane to Henry VIII, he served on various diplomatic missions, was in command of the E...